Method and device for reserving transmission band on internet
A method of reserving a transmission band of a transmission line for transmitting data via a plurality of Internet service providers on the Internet between first and second communication devices includes the steps of (a) the first communication device requesting an intermediary server to reserve the transmission band and (b) the intermediary server reserving the transmission band for the first and second communication devices.
Latest Fujitsu Limited Patents:
- Method and apparatus for supporting multiple configuration grants for sidelink data transmission
- Information processing device, work planning method, and storage medium
- Methods and apparatuses for transmission and reception of demodulation reference signal
- COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM STORING BLOCKCHAIN MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, BLOCKCHAIN MANAGEMENT DEVICE, AND BLOCKCHAIN MANAGEMENT METHOD
- COMPUTER-READABLE RECORDING MEDIUM STORING DATABASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, DATABASE MANAGEMENT METHOD, AND INFORMATION PROCESSING DEVICE
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and device for reserving a transmission band on the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
As applications or contents are diversified on the Internet, multimedia applications requiring broadband, such as video, have been launched. Such multimedia applications require high quality of required bands or timing. As a quality assurance mechanism for satisfying such a request, such band allocation mechanisms as the resource reservation setup protocol (RSVP) provided by RFC2205 and bandwidth brokering provided by RFC2638 have been studied as replacements for the conventional best effort service that provides no quality assurance, and have even been applied to some apparatuses and devices.
However, practically, it is difficult to apply the conventional band allocation mechanism to communication via a plurality of Internet service providers (ISP) for the following reasons:
(1) A mechanism should operate according to the same method from one end to another end of a network.
(2) Basically, a receiver and/or a transmitter of information should pay each ISP for the quality assurance. However, there is no knowing via which ISP communication is performed in the Internet Protocol (IP) routing. Therefore, each ISP is prevented from determining whom to charge.
(3) The ISP, when receiving a request for band allocation, has to accept the request without assurance of being paid for the band allocation.
(4) In the case of controlling band allocation in conformity to the RSVP, a receiving terminal is required to have a RSVP function. However, only a limited number of receiving terminals have the RSVP function at present.
(5) A band required for the communication depends on the capacity of a receiving terminal and a bandwidth between the receiving terminal and the nearest router. However, in the case of the bandwidth brokering, a band allocation setting is only performable from the transmitter side.
(6) The band required for the communication depends on the capacity of the receiving terminal and the bandwidth between the receiving terminal and the nearest router. However, an actual receiver of a content cannot inform the band allocation mechanism of the band requirements of the receiver without explicitly determining a special communication element of the transmission band although the receiver has no special knowledge of parameters for communication.
As a result, band-controlled data communication via a plurality of ISPs on the Internet using the conventional band allocation mechanism has not yet been realized at present.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is a general object of the present invention to provide a method and device for reserving a transmission band on the Internet in which the above-described disadvantages are eliminated.
A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a method and device for reserving a transmission band on the Internet which method and device realizes band-controlled data transmission in communication via a plurality of ISPs.
The above objects of the present invention are achieved by a method of reserving a transmission band of a transmission line for transmitting data via a plurality of Internet service providers on the Internet between first and second communication devices, the method including the steps of (a) the first communication device requesting an intermediary server to reserve the transmission band and (b) the intermediary server reserving the transmission band for the first and second communication devices.
According to the above-described method, even in communication via a plurality of ISPs, band-controlled data transmission is realized with an intermediary server reserving a transmission band of a transmission line between first and second communication devices.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a method of reserving a transmission band of a transmission line for transmitting data via a plurality of Internet service providers on the Internet between first and second communication devices in compliance with an RSVP protocol, the method including the steps of (a) the first communication device transmitting data including an ID of the first communication device to the second communication device through routers on the transmission line, (b) the second communication device transmitting to the routers an instruction with the ID to reserve the transmission band, and (c) the routers reserving the transmission band.
According to the above-described method, even in communication under the RSVP protocol, a transmission band is reliably reservable with routers reserving the transmission band based on an instruction with an ID issued by an intermediary server contracting Internet service providers having the routers.
The above objects of the present invention are also achieved by a device for reserving a transmission band of a transmission line for transmitting data via a plurality of Internet service providers on the Internet between first and second communication devices, wherein the transmission band is reserved at a request of the first communication device to reserve the transmission band.
The above objects of the present invention are further achieved by a device for reserving a transmission band of a transmission line for transmitting data via a plurality of Internet service providers on the Internet between first and second communication devices, the device including a first part storing IP addresses of servers of the Internet service providers, the servers reserving the transmission band, a second part storing a request of the first communication device to reserve the transmission band, and a third part storing results of reservations of the transmission band, the results being returned from the servers, wherein the device, upon receiving the request of the first communication device, refers to the first and second parts to instruct the servers to reserve the transmission band, recording the results of the reservations returned from the servers, and informing the first communication device whether a reservation of the transmission band is confirmed.
According to the above-described devices, even in communication via a plurality of ISPs, band-controlled data transmission is realized with the device reserving a transmission band of a transmission line between first and second communication devices.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
A description will now be given, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of embodiments of the present invention.
[First Method]
A description will be given of a first method by which a middleman is allowed to reserve a certain transmission band (frequency band) on a transmission line between two parties (for instance, between a user and a content provider) in the case of transferring data between the two parties via a plurality of ISPs on the Internet. Here, the description will be given of a case where a server of the middleman (intermediary server) (hereinafter referred to as a middleman server β) commands the reservation of a transmission band (a band reservation) for devices such as routers on the transmission line between the two parties based on a policy (a desired band value to be reserved, a reservation start date and time, etc.) of a user terminal (hereinafter referred to as a DTE-a) between the DTE-a and a server of the content (service) provider (hereinafter referred to as a content server α).
(1) System Configuration
The description of the first method will be given with reference to
A description will be given of configurations and operations of the content server α, the middleman server β, and the ISPs.
(2) Configuration of the Content Server α
As shown in
The line connection part 11 provides an interface with a network such as the Internet, and inputs and outputs data. The line connection part 11 receives data and transfers the data to the control part 12 for processing. The line connection part 11 also outputs data that the control part 12 requests to be transmitted.
The control part 12 includes a middleman address data management table 13, a content information management table 14, and a user policy storage table 15, and processes the data received from the line connection part 11 in accordance with the tables 13 through 15. Further, the control part 12 can perform an IP trace route (an IP route tracing) and process an Internet control message protocol (ICMP) message responding to the IP trace route.
Further, based on the content name included in the band reservation request transmitted from the user, the control part 12 calculates the content transmission end time from the capacity of the content extracted from the content information management table 14 and the requested band transmitted together with the content name, and sets the calculated content transmission end time in the column of reservation end date and time.
Further, the control part 12 performs the IP trace route on the basis of the IP address of the user, and enters the IP addresses of all the ports of routers (for instance, ISP routers 40-a and 40-b in
A band reservation request is made to the middleman in accordance with the content set in the user policy storage table 15.
(3) Operation of the Content Server α
A description will be given of an operation of the content server α from receiving the content request (content name, requested band, and reservation start date and time) together with the band reservation request from the DTE-a and making the band reservation request to the middleman server β up to receiving a band reservation result from the middleman server β and informing the user of the contents of the band reservation result. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the content request from the DTE-a, the control part 12 assigns an ordering number to the request and sets the middleman IP address, the user IP address, the content name, the requested band, the reservation start date and time, the reservation end date and time, and the IP addresses of all the router ports between the DTE-a and the content server α in the user policy storage table 15.
(b) Letting the middleman IP address set in the user policy storage table 15 be a destination address, the control part 12 transmits the contents of the columns (of the user policy storage table 15) corresponding to the ordering number except for the content name to the middleman server β as the band reservation request from the user. Hereinafter, all or a part of the contents transmitted here may be referred to as a “policy” of the user.
(c) Receiving the band reservation result assigned the ordering number from the middleman server β, the content server α searches the user policy storage table 15 based on the ordering number, and transmits the band reservation result having the ordering number, letting the user IP address corresponding to the ordering number be a destination address. Since the band reservation contents recorded in their respective columns in a row of the user policy storage table 15 which row corresponds to the ordering number are based on the request from the user, as is apparent from step (a), the band reservation result is accurately transmitted to the DTE-a.
The ordering number transmitted to the DTE-a is used to release the reserved band in the middle of communication, which is later described in the part of a fourth method.
(4) Configuration of the Middleman Server β
The middleman server β includes a line connection part 21, a control part 22, a contractor ISP management table 23, an ISP policy table 24, and a policy reservation determination management table 25.
The line connection part 21 provides an interface with a network such as the Internet, and inputs and outputs data. The line connection part 21 receives data and transmits the received data to the control part 22 for processing. The line connection part 21 also outputs data that the control part 22 requests to be transmitted.
The control part 22 includes the contractor ISP management table 23, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25, and processes the data received from the line connection part 21 in accordance with the tables 23 through 25.
Receiving the user policy from the content server α, the middleman server β extracts the IP addresses of the router ports based on the contents of the received policy. Using the network addresses determined from the router port IP addresses as keys, the middleman server β searches the contractor ISP management table 23 for the IP addresses of the policy servers or client management servers that can issue the instructions to the routers.
Receiving the user policy from the content server α, the middleman server β assigns an order reception number to the IP address of each of the policy servers determined from the contractor ISP management table 23, and sets the contents of the user policy (user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, and reservation end date and time) in their respective columns on the ISP policy table 24. When there are a plurality of routers and policy servers managing the routers between the DTE-a and the content server α, the policy servers are assigned serial order reception numbers, and the user policy is recorded for each of the serial order reception numbers.
When the middleman server β transmits a message requesting the band reservation to each of the policy servers, the contents of the columns (the user policy) except for the policy server IP address are transmitted with the policy server IP address being a destination address.
Specifically, after the IP policy table 24 is created, with respect to each pair of the content server IP address and its ordering number, that is, with respect to each user policy requested by a content provider, a pair of the order reception number and the policy server IP address of each corresponding policy server is recorded on the policy reservation determination management table 25.
Any time a message representing the band reservation result is received from each policy server, an OK or NG is written to the corresponding column on the policy reservation determination management table 25 based on the order reception number and the policy server IP address, which is a transmitter address, included in the result message. When the band reservation results are received from all the policy servers, the content server α is informed whether the band reservation made with the ordering number is confirmed or not with its content server IP address recorded in the column of content server IP address and corresponding to the band reservation result being employed as a destination IP address.
(5) Operation of the Middleman Server β
A description will be given of an operation of the middleman server β in which operation the user policy (ordering number, user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, reservation end date and time, and router port IP addresses) accompanied by the band reservation request is received from the content server α, the band reservation requests are made to the policy servers, and the band reservation result is returned to the content server α based on the band reservation results received back from the policy servers. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the user policy with the ordering number from the content server α, the control part 22 searches the contractor ISP address management table 23 for the IP addresses of the policy servers of the ISPs. Then, the control part 22 assigns the order reception number to each of the discovered policy server IP addresses and stores the user policy for each policy server in the ISP policy table 24.
(b) At the same time, the control part 22 sets the IP address of the content provider (that is, the IP address of the content server α), its ordering number, and the pairs of the policy server IP addresses and their order reception numbers corresponding to the IP address of the content provider and its ordering number in the policy reservation determination management table 25.
(c) The control part 22 transmits each pair of the order reception number and the user policy to the corresponding policy server with its policy server IP address obtained from the user policy stored in step (a) being a destination IP address.
(d) Receiving the band reservation result from each policy server, the control part 22 searches the policy reservation determination management table 25 and writes each reservation result to the corresponding column based on the transmitter IP address of each result message and its order reception number.
(e) Receiving the band reservation results from all the corresponding policy servers in step (d) and determining whether the band reservation requested by the user is confirmed or not, the control part 22 transmits the result of the band reservation for the user policy indicated by its ordering number to the content server α, letting the corresponding content server IP address recorded on the policy reservation determination management table 25 be a destination address.
According to
A description will be given of a configuration and operation of each of the policy server 30 and the ISP router 40.
(6) Configuration of the Policy Server (a Band Reservation Setting Server) 30
The policy server 30 includes an output side port band management table 31, an executed policy management table 32, and a router management table 33, which are shown as an output side port band management table 31-a, an executed policy management table 32-a, and a router management table 33-a in
Using as a key the router IP address transmitted together with the user policy having its order reception number from the middleman server β, the policy server 30 determines from the later-described router management table 33 the port number of the router 40 (40-a in
If the policy server 30 determines, with reference to the requested band of the user policy with its order reception number received from the middleman server β and the residual line band of the corresponding router port in the output side port band management table 31, that the requested band of the user policy is reservable, the policy server 30 records the contents of the user policy in their respective columns with the corresponding policy number. At this time, the policy server 30 also records the discovered router output port number in the corresponding column.
When the specified execution time of the user policy comes, the policy server 30 transmits the user policy with its policy number to the router 40 and instructs the router 40 in accordance with the user policy.
(7) Operation of the Policy Server 30
Next, a description will be given of an operation of the policy server 30. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the user policy having its order reception number from the middleman server β, the policy server 30 searches the router management table 33 for the virtual IP address of the router 40 using the router port IP address included in the transmitted user policy.
(b) The policy server 30 transmits the user IP address included in the received user policy to the router 40, letting the searched-out virtual IP address of the router 40 be a destination IP address, and transmits a message asking the output port of the router 40 at the time of performing the routing based on the user IP address.
(c) Receiving the output port number from the router 40, the policy server 30 refers to the output side port band management table 31 and confirms that the requested band of the user policy is smaller in data transmission amount than the residual line band of the output port number.
(d) Determining that the requested band of the user policy is reservable in the residual line band of the output port of the router 40, the policy server 30 enters the user policy in the executed policy management table 32. At this time, the policy server 30 also enters the virtual IP address and the output port of the router 40 in the executed policy management table 32. Further, the policy server 30 informs the middleman server β that the requested band of the user policy of the corresponding ordering number is reservable.
(e) Thereafter, the policy server 30 constantly monitors the executed policy management table 32 to instruct the router 40 to reserve or release the band at each specified execution time.
(8) Operation of the ISP Router 40
Receiving the data (message) asking the number of its output port to the user from the policy server 30, the ISP router 40 starts to find from which port data is output to the user IP address based on routing information and transmits the finding result to the policy server 30.
Further, in the case of receiving data commanding the band reservation or release, the ISP router 40 reserves or releases the line band of the port indicated by the data and transmits a message that the band reservation or release is completed to the policy server 30.
[Second Method]
Next, a description will be given of the second method by which a middleman is allowed to reserve a certain transmission band (frequency band) on a transmission line between two parties (for instance, between a user and a content provider) in the case of transferring data between the two parties via a plurality of ISPs on the Internet.
Hereinafter, the same elements as those of the description of the first method are referred to by the same numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.
Here, the description will be given particularly of a case where the middleman server β commands the reservation of a transmission band (a band reservation) for the devices on the transmission line between the DTE-a and the content server α in the case of using the band of a connection line connecting the DTE-a to the ISP (ISP-a in
(1) System Configuration
The description of the second method will be given with reference to
Here, a description will be given of configurations and operations of the content server α, the middleman server β, and each of the ISPs.
(2) Configuration of the Content Server α
The content server α includes the line connection part 11, the control part 12, and the contents 16. The control part 12 includes the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, and the user policy storage table 15.
The line connection part 11, the control part 12, and the middleman address management table 13 are equal to those of the content server α of the first method.
The content information management table 14 of the second method prestores a content capacity for each of the contents 16. When a message requesting the band reservation arrives from the user, the content information management table 14 is searched for a content capacity for a requested content by using as a key the name of the content included in the message so that the middleman server β is informed of the content capacity. The content information management table 14 is used for figuring out a band reservation end date and time in the middleman server β based on the band to be reserved for the user, which band is to be determined in the middleman server β, and the content capacity and a band reservation start date and time transmitted from the content server α.
The user policy storage table 15 of the second method is equal to that of the content server α of the first method. However, since the desired band value to be reserved is not transmitted from the user, the columns of requested band and reservation end date and time of the user policy storage table 15 remain blank with respect to the ordering number of the content server α.
(3) Operation of the Content Server α
A description will be given of an operation of the content server α from receiving a content request (content name and reservation start date and time) from the DTE-a (the user terminal) up to making a request for the band reservation to the middleman server β. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the content request from the DTE-a, the control part 12 assigns an ordering number to the request, and sets the middleman IP address, the user IP address, the content name, the reservation start date and time, the IP addresses of all the routers between the DTE-a and the content server α in the user policy storage table 15 in the same manner as described in the first method.
(b) The control part 12 transmits the contents of the columns of the user policy storage table 15 except for the content name to the middleman server β as the band reservation request from the user, letting the middleman IP address set in the user policy storage table 15 be a destination address. However, the requested band value is not transmitted to the middleman server β because the column therefor remains blank.
(c) Receiving from the middleman server β the result of the band reservation with the ordering number assigned thereto, the content server α searches the user policy storage table 15, based on the ordering number, for the user IP address corresponding to the ordering number, and transmits the band reservation result, letting the user IP address be a destination address. Since the contents of the band reservation corresponding to the ordering number are transmitted from the DTE-a, as is apparent from step (a), the result is accurately transmitted to the DTE-a.
(4) Configuration of the Middleman Server β
The middleman server β includes the line connection part 21 and the control part 22. The control part 22 includes the contractor ISP management table 23, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25.
The line connection part 21, the control part 22, and the policy reservation determination management part 25 are equal to those of the middleman server β of the first method.
The contractor ISP management table 23 of the second method is used for searching for the IP addresses of the policy servers of the ISPs which policy servers can issue band reservation instructions to the routers between the DTE-a and the content server α.
The contractor ISP management table 23 prestores the IP addresses of the policy server and the client management server (for instance, a client management server 50 in
The ISP policy table 24 of the second method temporarily stores policies transmitted from content providers. The ISP policy table 24 manages the policies for the ISPs by a series of order reception numbers (unique numbers in the middleman server β) and is recorded with such information as policy server IP address, user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, and reservation end date and time for each of the order reception numbers.
Upon receiving the user policy (content name, reservation start date and time, and router port IP addresses) and the content capacity from the content server α with the ordering number, the control part 22 extracts the corresponding policy server IP addresses from the ISP policy table 24 based on the router port IP addresses and the network addresses recorded on the contractor ISP management table 23. The control part 22 assigns an order reception number to each of the policy server IP addresses and stores the contents of the user policy (the user IP address and the reservation start date and time) in their respective columns on the ISP policy table 24.
Further, the control part 22 inquires of the client management server of the ISP (ISP-a) “the band used for the connection of the DTE-a to the ISP” based on the corresponding network address of the user IP address.
Receiving the result of the inquiry, the control part 22 figures out a content transmission end date and time from the value of the band used for the connection and the content capacity, and sets the value of the band used for the connection and the content transmission end date and time in the columns of requested band and reservation end date and time, respectively.
When the middleman server β transmits the user policy for the band reservation to each of the corresponding policy servers of the ISPs, the middleman server β extracts the user policy from the ISP policy table 24 based on the corresponding pair of the order reception number and policy server IP address.
(5) Operation of the Middleman Server β
A description will be given of an operation of the middleman server β from receiving the user policy (ordering number, user IP address, reservation start date and time, and router port IP addresses) accompanied by the band reservation request and the content capacity from the content server α up to making a band reservation request to each of the policy servers. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the user policy with the ordering number from the content server α, the control part 22 searches the contractor ISP management table 23, based on the network address of the ISP (ISP-a) determined from the user IP address included in the user policy, for the IP address of the client management server of the ISP (ISP-a) for managing the user.
(b) The control part 22 inquires about the connection line band value of the user, letting the searched-out IP address be a destination address.
(c) The control part 22 calculates a reservation end date and time from the connection line band value of the user transmitted from the client management server, and the content capacity and the reservation start date and time included in the user policy.
(d) The control part 22 searches the contractor ISP management table 23 for the IP addresses of the policy servers of the ISPs based on the network addresses of the ISPs determined from the IP addresses of the router port IP addresses included in the user policy. The control part 22 assigns the order reception number to each of the IP addresses of the policy servers and stores the user policy for each of the policy servers in the ISP policy table 24.
(e) At the same time, the control part 22 sets the IP address and the ordering number of the content provider, or the content server α, and pairs of the IP addresses of the policy servers corresponding to the ordering number and their respective order reception numbers assigned thereto in step (d) in the policy reservation determination management part 25.
(f) The control part 22 extracts the IP address of each policy server from the corresponding user policy stored in step (d), and transmits each pair of the order reception number and the user policy, letting the IP address of each policy server be a destination IP address.
(g) Receiving the band reservation result message back from each policy server, the control part 22 searches the policy reservation determination management table 25 and writes the band reservation results to the corresponding column on the policy reservation determination management table 25 based on the transmitter IP addresses of the messages and the transmitted order reception numbers.
Thereafter, the middleman server β performs the same operation as step (e) of the operation of the middleman server β of the first method.
According to
The client management server 50 and the client management table 51 of the ISP-b are not shown in
The policy server 30 and the ISP router 40 of the second method are equal to those of the first method.
(6) Configuration of the Client Management Server 50
The client management server 50 includes the client management table 51 shown in
When the connection of the user to the ISP (ISP-a in
If the middleman server β inquires of the client management server 50 the band used for the connection when the connection of the user to the ISP is completed, the client management server 50 transmits the band used for the connection to the middleman server β by using the user IP address as a key.
(7) Operation of the Client Management Server 50
The client management server 50 performs an operation in the following steps.
(a) Receiving from the middleman server β an inquiry about the band used for the connection of the user to the ISP at the time of the completion of the connection, the client management server 50 extracts the band used for the connection of the user from the client management table 51, using the user IP address as a key.
(b) The client management server 50 transmits the extracted used band of the user to the middleman server β.
[Third Method]
Next, a description will be given of a third method by which a middleman is allowed to reserve a certain transmission band (frequency band) on a transmission line between two parties (for instance, between a user and a content provider) in the case of transferring data between the two parties via a plurality of ISPs on the Internet.
The description will be given particularly of a case where the middleman server β commands the reservation of a transmission band (a band reservation) for the devices on the transmission line between the DTE-a and the content provider (content server α) when servers each having a copy of the content requested by the DTE-a (hereinafter referred to as copy servers) exist, apart from the content server α, in some places between the DTE-a and the content provider (content server α) on the Internet and the content is distributed to the DTE-a from the copy server nearest the DTE-a.
(1) System Configuration
The description of the third method will be given with reference to
A description will be given of configurations and operations of the content server α, the middleman server β, and each of the ISPs.
(2) Configuration of the Content Server α
The content server α includes the line connection part 11, the control part 12, and the contents 16. The control part 12 includes the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, the user policy storage table 15, and a copy content management table 17.
The line connection part 11, the middleman address management table 13, and the content information management table 14 are equal to those of the content server α of the first method.
The control part 12 includes the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, the user policy management table 15, and the copy content management table 17, and processes data received from the line connection part 11 in accordance with the tables 13 through 15 and 17. Further, the control part 12 performs an IP trace route and processes an ICMP message responding thereto.
The user policy storage table is equal to that of the content server α of the first method. However, the trace route is performed from a copy server 60. Therefore, in the user policy storage table 15, the column of router port IP address remains blank with respect to the ordering number of the content server α.
When a message requesting the band reservation arrives from the user, the user policy (user IP address, content name, requested band, reservation start date and time, and reservation end date and time) stored in the user policy storage table 15 is transmitted to the copy server 60 to reserve a band from the copy server 60 to the user and distribute the copy content to the user. At this point, in order to set the IP address of the copy server 60 as a destination address, the copy content management table 17 is used for extracting the IP address of the copy server 60 therefrom based on the corresponding network address with the user IP address stored in the user policy storage table 15 being used as a key.
(3) Operation of the Content Server α
A description will be given of an operation of the content server α from receiving a content request (content name, desired band value to be reserved, and reservation start date and time) from the DTE-a (the user terminal) up to making a request for the band reservation to the copy server 60. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the content request from the DTE-a, the control part 12 assigns an ordering number to the request, and in the same manner as described in the first method, sets such information as middleman IP address, content name, requested band, reservation start date and time, and reservation end date and time in the user policy storage table 15.
(b) The control part 12 transmits the contents of the columns of the user policy storage table 15 to the copy server 60 as the band reservation request from the user, letting the IP address of the copy server 60 be a destination address. The IP address of the copy server 60 is extracted from the copy content management table 17 based on the corresponding network address by using as a key the user IP address set in the user policy storage table 15.
However, the router port IP addresses, which are obtained as a result of the trace route performed by the copy server 60, are not transmitted.
(c) Receiving from the copy server 60 the result of the band reservation with the ordering number assigned thereto, the content server α searches the user policy storage table 15, based on the ordering number, for the user IP address corresponding to the ordering number, and transmits the result of the band reservation, letting the user IP address be a destination address. Since the contents of the band reservation corresponding to the ordering number are transmitted from the DTE-a, as is apparent from step (a), the result is accurately transmitted to the DTE-a.
(4) Configuration of the Middleman Server β
The middleman server β includes the line connection part 21 and the control part 22. The control part 22 includes the contractor ISP management table 23, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25.
The line connection part 21, the control part 22, and the policy reservation determination management part 25 are equal to those of the middleman server β of the first method.
The contractor ISP management table 23 is used for searching for the IP address of the policy server (the policy server 30 in
The ISP policy table 24 temporarily stores user policies transmitted from the copy servers. In the ISP policy table 24, the user policies for the ISPs and the IP addresses of the policy servers that can issue the band reservation instructions are stored in accordance with a series of order reception numbers.
After receiving the user policy with the ordering number from the copy server 60, the middleman server β operates in the same way as that of the first method.
(5) Operation of the Middleman Server β
A description will be given of an operation of the middleman server β from receiving the user policy (ordering number, content name, user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, and reservation end date and time) accompanied by the band reservation request from the copy server 60 up to making a band reservation request to the policy server.
Receiving the user policy with the ordering number from the copy server 60, the control part 22 searches the contractor ISP management table 23, based on the network address of the ISP (ISP-a) determined from the router port IP address included in the user policy, for the IP address of the policy server (the policy server 30-a) of the ISP (ISP-a) for managing the user. The control part 22 assigns the order reception number to the searched-out IP address of the policy server, and sets the user policy for the policy server in the ISP policy table 24.
Thereafter, the middleman server β operates in the same way as that of the first method.
According to
The copy server 60 and the user policy storage table 61 of the ISP-b are not shown in
A description will be given of the policy server 30, the ISP router 40, and the copy server 60.
(6) Configuration and Operation of the Policy Server 30
The output side port band management table 31, the executed policy management table 32, and the router management table 33 of the policy server 30 are equal to those of the policy server 30 of the first method.
(7) Operation of the ISP Router 40
The ISP router 40 operates in the same way as that of the first method.
(8) Copy Server 60
The copy server 60 includes the user policy storage table 61 and processes data received from the content server α.
Further, the copy server 60 can perform an IP trace route and process an ICMP message responding thereto.
(9) User Policy Storage Table 61
When a message of the user requesting the band reservation is transmitted with the ordering number from the content server α, the contents of the request (ordering number, middleman IP address, content name, user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, and reservation end date and time) are recorded on the user policy storage table 61.
When the trace route is performed based on the user IP address and the IP addresses of all router ports (in the case of
The band reservation request is made to the middleman server β in accordance with the contents set in the user policy storage table 61.
(10) Operation of the Copy Server 60
A description will be given of an operation of the copy server 60 from receiving the content request (content name, requested band, and reservation start date and time) accompanied by the band reservation request of the DTE-a from the content server α and making the band reservation request to the middleman server β up to receiving the result of the band reservation from the middleman server β and transmitting the result to the content server α. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the content request of the user from the content server α, the control part (not shown in the drawing) of the copy server 60 sets the contents in the corresponding columns on the user policy storage table 61 in the same way as the contents of the user policy are stored in the user policy storage table 15 of the first method.
(b) Thereafter, the copy server 60 operates in the same way as the content server α of the first method.
(c) Receiving the band reservation result with the ordering number from the middleman server β, the copy server 60 transmits the band reservation result to the content server α.
[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a description will be given of the fourth method by which a middleman is allowed to reserve a certain transmission band (frequency band) on a transmission line between two parties (for instance, between a user and a content provider) in the case of transferring data between the two parties via a plurality of ISPs on the Internet.
Here, the description will be given particularly of a case where the middleman server β releases a reserved band at the request of the DTE-a to release the reserved band (a reserved band release request) while a content is downloaded at a band value requested by the DTE-a between the DTE-a and the content server α.
(1) System Configuration
The description of the fourth method will be given with reference to
Each of the ISP-a and ISP-b includes a plurality of routers (indicated by 40-a1 and 40-a2 for the ISP-a; only the router 40-b is shown for the ISP-b for simplicity purposes). In the following description, the routers are equally referred to by the numeral 40 for convenience of description.
A description will be given of configurations and operations of the content server α, the middleman server β, and each of the ISPs.
(2) Configuration of the Content Server α
The content server α includes the line connection part 11, the control part 12, and the contents 16. The control part 12 includes the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, and the user policy storage table 15.
The line connection part 11, the control part 12, the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, and the user policy storage table 15 are equal to those of the content server α of the first method.
(3) Operation of the Content Server α
A description will be given of an operation of the content server α from receiving from the user the reserved band release request having an ordering number transmitted from the content server α in the case of the first method assigned thereto and making a request to release the reserved band to the middleman server β up to receiving the result of the release of the reserved band from the middleman server β. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the reserved band release request with the ordering number from the user, the control part 12 searches the user policy storage table 15 for the IP address of the middleman based on the ordering number, and transmits the band reservation release request with the ordering number to the middleman server β with the searched-out IP address of the middleman being a destination address.
(b) The control part 12 receives the ordering number of the user policy to be deleted from the middleman server β, and deletes the user policy corresponding to the ordering number.
(4) Configuration of the Middleman Server β
The middleman server β includes the line connection part 21 and the control part 22. The control part 22 includes the contractor ISP management table 23, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25.
The line connection part 21, the control part 22, the contractor ISP management table 25, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25 are equal to those of the middleman server β of the first method.
(5) Operation of the Middleman Server β
A description will be given of an operation of the middleman server β from receiving the reserved band release request with the ordering number from the content server α and instructing the corresponding policy servers to release the reserved band up to returning a release completion message to the content server α based on the release results of the policy servers. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the reserved band release request with the ordering number from the content server α, the control part 22 searches the policy reservation determination table 25 for the order reception numbers and the policy server IP addresses corresponding to the ordering number.
(b) The control part 22 transmits messages with the order reception numbers requesting the release of the reserved band to the corresponding policy servers, letting the searched-out IP addresses of the policy servers be destination addresses.
(c) Receiving a message (data) confirming the release of the reserved band corresponding to the order reception number back from any of the policy servers, the control part 22 turns off the reservation flag of the order reception number in the policy reservation determination management table 25. The reservation flags are turned on if the requested band is reserved. When all the reservation flags corresponding to the order reception numbers are turned off, the control part 22 deletes all the data corresponding to the order reception numbers and transmits the message that the release is completed with respect to the ordering number to the content server α.
The ISP-a and ISP-b includes their respective policy servers 30 and ISP routers 40.
A description will now be given of the policy server 30 and the ISP router 40.
(6) Configuration of the Policy Server 30
The policy server 30 includes the output side port band management table 31, the executed policy management table 32, and the router management table 33.
The output side port band management table 31, the executed policy management table 32, and the router management table 33 are equal to those of the policy server 30 of the first method in configuration and operation.
(7) Operation of the Policy Server 30
The policy server 30 operates in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the reserved band release message with the order reception number from the middleman server β, the policy server 30 searches the executed policy management table 32 based on the transmitter IP address and the order reception number of the message. Letting the router IP address (an address to which band reservation and release instructions are given) corresponding to the transmitter IP address and the order reception number of the message be a destination address, the policy server 30 transmits to the corresponding router a message that the user policy corresponding to the transmitter IP address and the order reception number of the message is to be deleted.
(b) Receiving a message confirming the completion of the release of the corresponding reserved band from the router, the policy server 30 increases the residual line band (data amount) of the corresponding router port in the output side port band management table 31 by the amount of the released band, using as a key the corresponding number of the output port of the router in the executed policy management table 32.
(c) The policy server 30 transmits the message (data) confirming the deletion of the user policy having the order reception number to the middleman server β.
(8) Operation of the ISP Router 40
The ISP router 40 operates in the same way as that of the first method.
[Fifth Method]
A description will now be given of a fifth method of the present invention. According to the fifth method, in the case of transferring data between two parties via a plurality of ISPs on the Internet, with a band reservation being made by an RSVP message assigned an ID (a payment ID) issued in advance by a middleman and with routers on a transmission line checking the ID included in the reservation message, the band reservation can be authorized with the ID guaranteeing the middleman a charge payment for the band reservation.
(1) System Configuration
The description of the fifth method will be given with reference to
A description will be given of configurations and operations of the content server α, the middleman server β, and each of the ISPs.
(2) Configuration of the Content Server α
The content server α includes the line connection part 11, the control part 12, and the contents 16. The line connection part is equal to that of the content server α of the first method. The control part 12 includes a payment ID storage table 18, and processes data received from the line connection part 11. Further, the control part 12 can perform and process operations in conformity to the RSVP protocol.
(3) Operation of the Content Server α
A description will be given of an operation of the content server α from receiving a content request accompanied by a band reservation request from the DTE-a and transmitting a Path message to request the routers on the transmission line between the content server α and the DTE-a to reserve a requested band up to transmitting a Path Tear message to the DTE-a to confirm the release of the reserved band. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the content request from the DTE-a, first, the content server α starts to transmit a requested content to the DTE-a without reserving a band. Further, in order to cause the routers on the transmission line to the DTE-a to prepare for the band reservation, the content server α includes the ID extracted from the payment ID storage table 18 in the Path message as an object, and transmits the Path message, letting the IP address of the DTE-a be a destination address.
(b) Receiving a Resv message transmitted from the DTE-a, the content server α controls a transfer rate for the transmitted content in accordance with a band to be reserved (the requested band) of flow spec objects in the Resv message.
(c) Receiving a Resv Tear message from the DTE-a, the content server α transmits a Path Tear message to the DTE-a to confirm the release of the reserved band.
Next, a description will be given of an operation of the content server α in the case of being charged for the band reservation by the middleman server β.
Receiving billing particulars (amount billed, payment ID, destination IP address, destination port number, reserved (requested) band, use start date and time, and use end date and time) from the middleman server β, the content server α pays the middleman the amount billed and charges the user the amount paid.
(4) Configuration of the Middleman Server β
The middleman server β includes the line connection part 21 and the control part 22. The line connection part 21 is equal to that of the middleman server β of the first method. The control part 22 includes a payment ID management table 26 and an ISP billing particulars table 27, and processes data received from the line connection part 21 in accordance with the tables 26 and 27.
(5) Operation of the Middleman Server β
A description will be given of an operation of the middleman server β from receiving the billing particulars from the bill collection server 80 up to charging the content server α the amount billed. The operation is performed in the following steps.
(a) Receiving the billing particulars with the payment ID from the bill collection server 80, which has received the usage particulars of the reserved band (band usage particulars) from the ISP router 40-a, the control part 22 records the billing particulars on the ISP billing particulars table 27.
(b) After a given period of time passes, the control part 22 searches the ISP billing particulars table 27 for the IP address of the content server α corresponding to the payment ID, and transmits the billing particulars, letting the searched-out IP address be a destination address.
Next, a description will be given of configurations and operations of the bill collection server 80 and the ISP router 40.
(6) Configuration and Operation of the Bill Collection Server 80
The bill collection server 80 includes a billing address determination table 81 and a billing particulars table 82.
(7) Operation of the Bill Collection Server 80.
A description will be given of an operation of the bill collection server 80 from receiving the band usage particulars from the ISP router 40 up to charging the middleman server β.
(a) The bill collection server 80 collects the band usage particulars at regular intervals from the ISP router 40 managed and identified by the bill collection server 80, letting the IP address of the ISP router 40 be a destination address.
(b) Collecting the band usage particulars, the bill collection server 80 extracts the IP address of the middleman server β that is the billing address from the billing address determination table 81 based on the payment ID included in the band usage particulars.
(c) The bill collection server 80 transmits the band usage particulars to the middleman server β with the extracted IP address being a destination address.
(8) Configuration of the ISP Router 40
The ISP router 40 is capable of interpreting an object of a newly defined payment ID in each RSVP message, and includes a payment ID determination table 41 and a band usage particulars table 42.
When a Path message including a payment ID is received from a content provider, or when an Resv message including a payment ID is received from a user, by comparing the payment ID with a payment ID recorded on the payment ID determination table 41 to see whether the payment IDs match, it is confirmed whether payment for the band reservation by the message is guaranteed.
(9) Operation of the ISP Router 40
A description will be given of an operation of the ISP router 40 in the case of transmitting and receiving RSVP messages for band reservation from a content provider and a user terminal.
(a) Receiving the Path message including the payment ID as an object from the content server α, the ISP router 40 confirms whether the payment ID matches that recorded on the payment ID determination table 41 (that is, whether the payment ID is recorded on the payment ID determination table 41). If it is confirmed in the affirmative, the ISP router 40 records session objects (destination IP address and destination port number) included in the Path message as well as the payment ID on the band usage particulars table 42. Thereafter, the ISP router 40 transmits the Path message to the DTE-a.
(b) Receiving the Resv message including the payment ID as an object from the DTE-a, the ISP router 40 confirms whether the payment ID and the session objects match those recorded on the band usage particulars table 42. If it is confirmed in the affirmative, the ISP router 40 sets the requested band set as a flow spec object in the Resv message actually as a band to be reserved by the ISP router 40. At this time, the ISP router 40 records the requested band and a usage start date and time at which the requested band is reserved on the band usage particulars table 42. Thereafter, the router 40 transmits the Resv message to the content provider (the content server α).
(c) Receiving the Resv Tear message including the payment ID as an object from the DTE-a, the ISP router 40 confirms whether the payment ID and the session objects match those recorded on the band usage particulars table 42. If it is confirmed in the affirmative, the ISP router 40 increases the line band of its corresponding port to its original level in data transmission amount. Further, the ISP router 40 records a usage end date and time on the band usage particulars table 42. Thereafter, the ISP router 40 transmits the Resv Tear message to the content server α.
(d) Receiving the Path Tear message including the payment ID as an object from the content server α, the ISP router 40 transfers the Path Tear message directly to the DTE-a.
Next, a description will be given of an operation of the ISP router 40 in the case of receiving the message notifying the collection of band usage particulars from the bill collection server 80.
Receiving the message notifying the collection of the stored band usage particulars from the bill collection server 80 managing the ISP router 40, the ISP router 40 transmits the band usage particulars stored by that time to the bill collection server 80.
Next, a description will be given, with reference to the accompanying drawings, of embodiments of the present invention.
[First Embodiment]
In a first embodiment, a content server (content provider), in distributing its content to a user terminal (user) via the Internet, transmits to a middleman server (middleman) the IP addresses of the user terminal and the content server, a desired band value to be reserved (a requested band) on a transmission line between the user terminal and the content server, the IP addresses of the ports of all routers between the user terminal and the content server so that the middleman server causes policy servers between the user terminal and the content server to reserve the requested band.
(1) System Configuration
A description will be given of the first embodiment with reference to
As shown in
The ISP-a includes a policy server Pa, a client management server Ka, a copy server Sa, and a router Ra. The ISP-b includes a policy server Pb, a client management server Kb, a copy server Sb, and a router Rb. The ISP-c includes a policy server Pc, a client management server Kc, a copy server Sc, and routers Rc and Rd. The policy servers Pa through Pc are equal to the above-described policy server 30, the client management servers Ka through Kc are equal to the above-described client management server 50, the copy servers Sa through Sc are equal to the above-described copy server 60, and the routers Ra through Rd are equal to the above-described routers 40.
The router Ra includes ports P1 through P4, the router Rb includes ports PS through P9, the router Rc includes ports P10 through P13, and the router Rd includes ports P14 through P16.
The content server α includes the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, and the user policy storage table 15 as shown in
The middleman server β includes the contractor ISP management table 23, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25 as shown in
The IP addresses of the above-described components of the network are shown in
(2) Precondition
In the network structure of
Next, a description will be given of the tables set in the content server α, the middleman server β, and the policy servers Pa through Pc and the routers Ra through Rd of the ISP-a through ISP-c.
(A) Tables Set in the Content Server α
The content server α includes the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, and the user policy storage table 15.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
(B) Tables Set in the Middleman Server β
The middleman server β includes the contractor ISP management table 23, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
(C) The Tables Set in the Policy Servers Pa through Pc
Each of the policy servers Pa through Pc of the ISP-a through ISP-c includes the output side port band management table 31, the executed policy management table 32, and the router management table 33.
(3) System Operation
A description will be given, with reference to
In step S1 of
The conditions requested by the DTE-a are as follows:
Content name: Content A
Desired band value to be reserved (requested band): 64 Kbps
Reservation start date and time: 2001/9/1, 10:00 a.m.
Thereafter, the DTE-a waits for a band reservation result transmitted from the content server α (step S10103 of
In step S2 of
Thereafter, first, as shown in
Next, as shown in
Further, as shown in
Here, in order to reserve a data transfer route for the content A on the transmission line between the DTE-a and the content server α, the content server α, letting the data recorded in the column of user IP address of the user policy storage table 15 be a destination address, transmits an IP trace route shown in
In step S3 of
In step S4 of
In step S5 of
In step S6 of
If it is determined in the negative in step S10210, the steps S10201 through S10203 and S10209 are repeated until the content server α receives the ICMP messages from all the routers Ra through Rc.
If it is determined in the affirmative in step S10210, in step S10211, the content server α, letting the data corresponding to the ordering number α1 in the column of middleman server IP address of the user policy storage table 15 be a destination IP address, transmits to the middleman server β an IP packet including the items of the user policy (ordering number, user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, reservation end date and time, and router port IP addresses (input side)) of the ordering number α1. The IP packet includes information indicated by hatching in
In step S7 of
Thereafter, first, the middleman server β extracts the router port IP addresses (addresses of the input ports P3, P8, and P12) of the routers Ra, Rb, and Rc from the user policy (step S10305), and searches the column of network address on the contractor ISP management table 23 for network addresses (network addresses of the ISP-a through ISP-c) corresponding to the extracted router port IP addresses (step S10306). Then, the middleman server β extracts data corresponding to the extracted network addresses from the column of policy server IP address of the contractor ISP management table 23 (step S10307). That is, the middleman server β extracts the IP addresses of the policy servers Pa through Pc.
Then, in step S10308, it is determined whether the middleman server β has extracted the IP addresses of the policy servers Pa through Pc. If it is determined in the negative in step S10308, the middleman server β records NG (not confirmed) in the column of reservation result on the policy reservation determination management table 25 for each corresponding one of the policy server IP addresses (step S10312), and transmits to the content server α a message that the user policy of the ordering number α1 is not reservable (step S10313). Thereafter, the operation goes back to step S10301.
If it is determined in the affirmative in step S10308, the middleman server β assigns an order reception number “β1” to the extracted IP address of the policy server Pc, and records the order reception number “β1” and the IP address of the policy server Pc in the columns of order reception number and policy server IP address on the ISP policy table 24. Further, with respect to the policy server Pc, the middleman server β records the extracted policy items (transmitter IP address, user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, reservation end date and time, and router port IP address) in their respective columns (content server IP address, user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, reservation end date and time, and router port IP address) on the ISP policy table 24 so that the items are correlated with the ordering number β1 (that is, the items are recorded in a row corresponding to the ordering number β1 in the columns on the ISP policy table 24).
Thereafter, the middleman server β successively performs the same operation with respect to each of the policy servers Pb and Pa, and records the extracted data on the ISP policy table 24 as shown in
Further, the middleman server β records the extracted data items (transmitter IP address and ordering number) in the columns of content server IP address and ordering number on the policy reservation determination management table 25, respectively, and as shown in
Here, in order to cause the policy server Pc of the ISP-c to execute the user policy, the middleman server β, letting the data corresponding to the order reception number β1 in the column of policy server IP address of the ISP policy table 24 be a destination address, transmits to the policy server Pc an IP packet including the policy items (order reception number, user IP address, content server IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, reservation end date and time, and router port IP address) of the order reception number β1.
The middleman server β successively extracts the order reception numbers β2 and β3, and performs the same operation with respect to each of the policy servers Pb and Pa (step S10311).
In step S8 of
Then, as shown in
Next, in order to transmit the policy to the subordinate router Rc, the policy server Pc assigns a policy number “1” to the extracted policy items (transmitter IP address, order reception number, user IP address, content server IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, reservation end date and time, and router virtual IP address), and records the policy items in the columns of middleman IP address, order reception number, destination IP address, transmitter IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, reservation end date and time, and router virtual IP address of the executed policy management table 32, respectively (step S10406).
Then, the policy server Pc transmits to the router Rc an IP packet including a message inquiring the output side port of the router Rc to the user IP address of the policy number 1 (step S10407).
In step S9 of
In step S10 of
Next, the policy server Pc extracts the output port number P10, and searches the column of output port number on the output side port band management table 31 so as to find a residual line band for a reserved period corresponding to the output port number P10 (step S10412).
Since the reservation start date and time and reservation end date and time extracted in step S8 are 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., respectively, the policy server Pc determines whether the requested band is reservable in the residual line band for the reserved period of 10:00 to 12:00 of the router port number P10 (step S10413). In this case, as shown in
If the result of the subtraction of the requested band from the residual line band is smaller than zero bps, the policy server Pc determines that the policy of the order reception number β1 is not reservable, and transmits to the middleman server β a message to that effect (step S10416).
Here, as shown in
In step S11 of
Then, in order to cause the router Rc to set the user policy, the policy server Pc transmits to the router Rc an IP packet including the extracted policy items of the policy number 1, letting the data in the column of router virtual IP address on the executed policy management table 32 as shown in
In step S12, if it is determined in steps S10605 and S10606 of
Thereafter, the router Rc transmits to the policy server Pc an IP packet including a message notifying the completion of the setting of the policy of the policy number 1 (step S10610).
Receiving the IP packet from the router Rc, the policy server Pc informs the middleman server β of the completion of the setting of the policy of the policy number 1 (step S10409 of
In step S13 of
In step S14 of
Then, the middleman server β determines whether all the reservation results from the policy servers Pa through Pc are “◯” (that is, whether all the band reservations are confirmed) (step S10315). If the middleman server β determines in step S10315 that all the reservation results are “◯”, in step S10316, the middleman server β judges by a general determination that the requested band is reservable, and transmits to the content server α an IP packet including a general determination result “◯” for the ordering number α1, letting the data corresponding to the order reception numbers β1 through β3 in the column of content server on the policy reservation determination table 25 be a destination address (step S10316).
If any of the reservation results transmitted from the policy servers Pa through Pc is “× (NG or not confirmed)”, the middleman server β determines in step S10315 that the requested band is not reservable, and transmits to the content server α an IP packet including a general determination result “×” for the ordering number α1.
In step S15 of
If the content server α receives the IP packet including the general determination result “×” in step S10212, the content server α transmits to the DTE-a an IP packet including a message to that effect, such as “Reservation is not confirmable.”
Thereafter, the content server α determines whether the policy is reservable (that is, the requested band is reservable) (step S10215), and if the policy is reservable, the content server α starts transmitting the content A to the DTE-a with the reserved band for the reserved period of time (10:00 to 12:00) (step S10216). When the reservation end (date and) time comes (step S10503 of
[Second Embodiment]
In the second embodiment, a content server (content provider), in distributing its content to a user terminal (user) via the Internet, transmits to a middleman server (middleman) the IP addresses of the user terminal and the content server and the IP addresses of the ports of all routers between the user terminal and the content server so that the middleman server makes an inquiry to a client management server of an ISP that the user contracts about a desired band value to be reserved (a requested band) on a transmission line between the user terminal and the ISP and causes the band value to be reserved on the transmission line between the user terminal and the content server.
(1) Precondition
In the network structure of
Next, a description will be given of the tables set in the content server α, the middleman server β, and the policy servers Pa through Pc, the client management servers Ka through Kc, and the routers Ra through Rd of the ISP-a through ISP-c.
(A) The content server α includes the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, and the user policy storage table 15 that are equal to those described in the first embodiment.
(B) The middleman server β includes the contractor ISP management table 23, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25 that are equal to those described in the first embodiment.
(C) Each of the policy servers Pa through Pc of the ISP-a through ISP-c includes the output side port band management table 31, the executed policy management table 32, and the router management table 33 that are equal to those described in the first embodiment.
(D) Each of the client management servers Ka through Kc of the ISP-a through ISP-c includes the client management table 51.
Each of the routers Ra through Rd of the ISP-a through ISP-c has given routing information, and routing is performed based on the routing information.
(2) System Operation
A description will be given, with reference to
In step S21 of
The conditions requested by the DTE-a are as follows:
Content name: Content A
Reservation start date and time: 2001/9/1, 10:00 a.m.
Thereafter, the DTE-a waits for a band reservation result transmitted from the content server α (step S20103 of
In step S22 of
Thereafter, first, as shown in
Then, the content server α assigns an ordering number “α1” to a group of the extracted data items (middleman server IP address, content name, transmitter IP address, and reservation start date and time), and records the data in the respective columns (ordering number, middleman IP address, content name, user IP address, and reservation start date and time) on the user policy storage table 15 (step S20206).
Here, in order to reserve a data transfer route for the content A on the transmission line between the DTE-a and the content server α, the content server α, letting the data recorded in the column of user IP address of the user policy storage table 15 be a destination address, transmits an IP trace route shown in
In step S23 of
In step S24 of
In step S25 of
In step S26 of
If it is determined in the negative in step S20209, the steps S20201 through S20203 and S20208 are repeated until the content server α receives the ICMP messages from all the routers Ra through Rc.
If it is determined in the affirmative in step S20209, in step S20210, the content server α searches the column of content name on the content information management table 14 for the requested content name (content A), and extracts a content capacity corresponding to the content name from the content information management table 14. Here, as shown in
Then, the content server α, letting the data corresponding to the ordering number α1 in the column of middleman server IP address of the user policy storage table 15 be a destination IP address, transmits to the middleman server β an IP packet including the content capacity and the policy items (ordering number, user IP address, reservation start date and time, and router port IP addresses (input side)) of the ordering number α1 (step S20211). The IP packet includes information indicated by hatching in
In step S27 of
Thereafter, first, the middleman server β searches the column of network address on the contractor ISP management table 23 for network addresses (network addresses of the ISP-a through ISP-c) corresponding to the extracted router port IP addresses (addresses of the input ports P3, P8, and P12 of the routers Ra, Rb, and Rc) (step S20308), and extracts data corresponding to the extracted network addresses from the column of policy server IP address of the contractor ISP management table 23 as shown in
Then, in step S20310, it is determined whether the middleman server β has extracted the IP addresses of the policy servers Pa through Pc. If it is determined in the negative in step S10308, the operation goes to step S10312 of
If it is determined in the affirmative in step S20310, the middleman server β assigns an order reception number “β1” to the extracted IP address of the policy server Pc, and records the order reception number β1 and the IP address of the policy server Pc in the columns of order reception number and policy server IP address on the ISP policy table 24. Further, with respect to the policy server Pc, the middleman server β records the extracted policy items (transmitter IP address, user IP address, reservation start date and time, and router port IP address) in their respective columns (content server IP address, user IP address, reservation start date and time, and router port IP address) on the ISP policy table 24 so that the items are correlated with the ordering number β1 (that is, the items are recorded in a row corresponding to the ordering number β1 in the columns on the ISP policy table 24).
Thereafter, the middleman server β successively performs the same operation with respect to each of the policy servers Pb and Pa, and records the extracted data on the ISP policy table 24 as shown in
Further, the middleman server β records the extracted data items (transmitter IP address and ordering number) in the columns of content server IP address and ordering number on the policy reservation determination management table 25, respectively, and as shown in
Then, the middleman server β searches the column of network address on the contractor ISP management table 23 for a network address corresponding to the extracted policy item of user IP address of the ordering number α1 (step S20312). That is, the middleman server β searches for the network address of the ISP-a that the user (DTE-a) contracts. Thereafter, the middleman server β extracts a client management server IP address corresponding to the searched-out network address from the contractor ISP management table 23 as shown in
In step S28 of
Then, the client management server Ka transmits to the middleman server β an IP packet including data of the connection band value of “64 Kbps”, which is a response to the inquiry of the ordering number α1 (step S20406).
If the client management server Ka receives an IP packet (data) from other components of the network than the middleman server β in step S20402, the client management server Ka identifies the transmitter of the IP packet in step S20403 and operates in accordance with the received IP packet in step S20404.
In step S29 of
Further, the middleman server β calculates a reservation end date and time based on the extracted value of 64 Kbps and the previously extracted content capacity (step S20305), and records the reservation end date and time in the column of reservation end date and time on the ISP policy table 24 so that the reservation end date and time is correlated with each of the order reception numbers β1 through β3 corresponding to the ordering number β1 (step S20306). As shown in FIG. 46C(a), since the content A of 57.6 Mbytes in size is to be transmitted at a transmission rate of 64 Kbps, 7200 seconds are required to transmit the content A. Therefore, by adding 7200 seconds to the reservation start date and time of 2001/9/1, 10:00 a.m. as shown in FIG. 46C(b), the reservation end date and time is calculated at 2001/9/1, 12:00 p.m. as shown in FIG. 46C(c).
In step S30 of
[Third Embodiment]
In the third embodiment, a content server (content provider), in distributing its content to a user terminal (user) via the Internet, in order to cause an ISP nearest the user terminal to distribute the content to the user terminal, selects the ISP and transmits to a copy server of the ISP the IP address of the user terminal, the IP addresses of the ports of all routers between the user terminal and the copy server, and a desired band value to be reserved (a requested band) on a transmission line between the user terminal and the copy server so that the copy server can reserve the requested band.
(1) Precondition
In the network structure of
Next, a description will be given of the tables set in the content server α, the middleman server β, and the policy servers Pa through Pc, the copy servers Sa through Sc, and the routers Ra through Rd of the ISP-a through ISP-c.
(A) The content server α includes the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, the user policy storage table 15, and the copy content management table 17. The middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, and the user policy storage table 15 are equal to those described in the first embodiment. The copy content management table 17 manages the network addresses of the ISP-a through ISP-c and the IP addresses of the copy servers Sa through Sc so that the contents of the user policy storage table 15 can be transmitted to the copy servers Sa through Sc storing copies of contents (copy contents) distributed in advance from the content server α under contracts with the ISP-a through ISP-c.
(B) The middleman server β includes the contractor ISP management table 23, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25 that are equal to those described in the first embodiment.
(C) Each of the policy servers Pa through Pc of the ISP-a through ISP-c includes the output side port band management table 31, the executed policy management table 32, and the router management table 33 that are equal to those described in the first embodiment.
(D) Each of the copy servers Sa through Sc of the ISP-a through ISP-c includes the user policy storage table 61. As shown in
The copy servers Sa through Sc each include the IP address of the content server α based on the contracts between the ISP-a through ISP-c and the content server α.
Each of the routers Ra through Rd of the ISP-a through ISP-c has given routing information, and routing is performed based on the routing information.
(2) System Operation
A description will be given, with reference to
In step S31 of
The conditions requested by the DTE-a are as follows:
Content name: Content A
Desired band value to be reserved (requested band): 64 Kbps
Reservation start date and time: 2001/9/1, 10:00 a.m.
Thereafter, the DTE-a waits for a band reservation result transmitted from the content server α (step S10103 of
In step S32 of
Thereafter, first, as shown in
Next, as shown in
Further, as shown in
Next, the content server α searches the column of network address on the copy content management table 17 for a network address corresponding to the extracted user IP address as shown in
Here, letting the extracted copy server IP address be a destination address, the content server α transmits to the copy server Sa the policy items (ordering number, middleman server IP address, content name, user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, and reservation end date and time) of the ordering number α1 (step S30110).
In step S33 of
Here, in order to reserve a data transfer route for the content A on the transmission line between the DTE-a and the copy server Sa, the copy server Sa, letting the recorded user IP address be a destination address, transmits an IP trace route shown in
In step S34 of
In step S35 of
Thereafter, it is determined whether the copy server Sa has received the ICMP messages from all the routers (in this embodiment, the router Ra) between the DTE-a and the copy server Sa (step S30313).
If it is determined in the negative in step S30313, the operation goes back to step S30301, and steps S30301 through S30303 and S30312 are repeated until the copy server Sa receives the ICMP messages from all the routers.
Then, the copy server Sa, letting the data corresponding to the ordering number α1 in the column of middleman server IP address of the user policy storage table 61 be a destination IP address, transmits to the middleman server β an IP packet including the items of the user policy (ordering number, user IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, reservation end date and time, and router port IP addresses (input side)) of the ordering number α1 (step S30314).
In step S36 of
If it is determined in the affirmative in step S30207, the operation goes to step S10309 of
Thereafter, the policy server Pa and the router Ra performs the same operations as in the first embodiment, and finally, the policy server Pa transmits an IP packet including a reservation result (OK or NG) to the middleman server β.
Receiving the IP packet from the policy server Pa, the middleman server performs the same operations as in steps S10314 through S10316 of
In step S37 of
Then, the copy server Sa refers to the general determination result (reservation result) (step S30308), and determines whether the reservation of the policy (requested band) is confirmed (step S30309). If the reservation is confirmed, the copy server Sa starts transmitting the content A to the DTE-a with the reserved band for the reserved period of time (step S30310). When the reservation end (date and) time comes, the copy server Sa ends the transmission of the content A (step S30311).
In step S38 of
[Fourth Embodiment]
In the fourth embodiment, a middleman server, while a content server (content provider) distributes a reserved content to a user terminal (user) at a reserved band value of 64 Kbps via the Internet, releases the reserved band value with the user informing the content server of an ordering number for the reservation of the content so as to cancel the reservation in the middle of communication (data distribution) at the request of the user terminal.
(1) Precondition
In the network structure of
First, a band of “128 Kbps” is reserved in advance on a transmission line between the DTE-b and DTE-c for a period of 10:00 to 12:00 on 2001/9/1.
Further, for a content A provided by the content provider α, the DTE-a reserves a band of “64 Kbps” on a transmission line between the DTE-a and the content server α for a period of 10:00 to 12:00 on 2001/9/1, and the content A is being distributed on the web screen of the DTE-a.
Here, a description will be given of the tables set in the content server α, the middleman server β, and the policy servers Pa through Pc and the routers Ra through Rd of the ISP-a through ISP-c.
(A) The content server α includes the middleman address management table 13, the content information management table 14, and the user policy storage table 15 that are equal to those described in the first embodiment.
(B) The middleman server β includes the contractor ISP management table 23, the ISP policy table 24, and the policy reservation determination management table 25 that are equal to those described in the first embodiment.
(C) Each of the policy servers Pa through Pc of the ISP-a through ISP-c includes the output side port band management table 31, the executed policy management table 32, and the router management table 33 that are equal to those described in the first embodiment.
The output side port band management table 31 of the policy server Pa manages the bands of the output side ports P1 and P2 of its subordinate router Ra as shown in
The executed policy management tables 32 of the policy servers Pa through Pc manage policies executed by their respective subordinate routers Ra through Rd by a series of ordering numbers.
Each of the routers Ra through Rd of the ISP-a through ISP-c has given routing information, and routing is performed based on the routing information.
(2) System Operation
A description will be given, with reference to
In step S41 of
The condition requested by the DTE-a is as follows:
Cancellation of ordering number α1
Thereafter, the DTE-a waits to receive data from the content server α (step S40102).
In step S42 of
Since the user policy storage table 15 is recorded with data matching the ordering number α1, the content server α transmits to the middleman server β an IP packet including an instruction to cancel the policy of the ordering number α1 (a policy cancellation instruction), letting the data corresponding to the ordering number α1 in the column of middleman server IP address of the user policy storage table 15 be the destination IP address of the IP packet (step S40206).
In step S43 of
If the middleman server β determines in step S40303 that the IP packet is the policy cancellation instruction, the middleman server β extracts the transmitter IP address and the ordering number (α1) from the IP packet, and searches the columns of content server IP address and ordering number on the policy reservation determination management table 25 for data matching the extracted transmitter IP address and ordering number. Then, the middleman server extracts data in the column of policy server IP address which data corresponds to both extracted transmitter IP address and ordering number as shown in
Here, the middleman server β, letting the policy server IP addresses be destination IP addresses, transmits to the policy servers Pa through Pc IP packets including instructions to cancel the policies of the order reception numbers β3, β2, and β1, respectively (step S40307).
In step S44 of
Next, the policy server Pc, letting the extracted router virtual IP address be a destination address, transmits to the router Rc an IP packet including an instruction to cancel the policy items (policy number, destination IP address, transmitter IP address, requested band, reservation start date and time, and reservation end date and time) of the policy number 1 (step S40405).
When the router Rc, which waits to receive data (step S40501 of
Next, the router Rc transmits to the policy server Pc an IP packet including a message notifying the completion of the cancellation of the policy of the policy number 1 (step S40504).
In step S46 of
Next, the policy server Pc searches the column of port number on the output side port band management table 31 for the extracted output port number P10. Then, with respect to the (output) port number P10, the policy server Pc updates the output side port band management table 31 by adding the reserved (requested) band value of 64 Kbps to a residual band value for the reserved period (10:00 to 12:00) obtained from the extracted reservation start date and time and reservation end date and time (step S40407). As shown in
Here, the policy server Pc, letting data corresponding to the policy number 1 in the column of middleman server IP address on the executed policy management table 32 be a destination IP address, transmits to the middleman server β an IP packet including a message notifying the completion of the cancellation of the policy of the order reception number β1 (step S40408).
Further, the policy server Pc searches the executed policy management table 32 for the order reception number β1, and deletes the policy corresponding to the order reception number β1 from the executed policy management table 32 as shown in
In step S47 of
In step S48 of
Then, the middleman server β successively performs the same operation with respect to each of the IP messages transmitted from the policy servers Pb and Pa in step S47.
Next, the middleman server β determines whether all the reservation results corresponding to the order reception numbers β1 through β3 are deleted from the policy reservation determination management table 25 (step S40305).
If the middleman server β determines that all the reservation results are deleted in step S40305, the middleman server β judges by a general determination that the reserved policy is canceled, and transmits to the content server α an IP packet including a message notifying the completion of the cancellation of the reservation of the policy of the ordering number β1 (step S40308).
Then, the middleman server β searches the column of ordering number on the policy reservation determination management table 25, and deletes the policies corresponding to the searched-out ordering number as shown in
In step S49 of
If the content server α determines in step S40207 that the IP packet includes such a message, the content server α transmits to the DTE-a an IP packet including a message notifying the completion of the policy reservation cancellation, such as “Cancellation of the reserved policy of the ordering number α1 is completed,” letting data corresponding to the ordering number α1 in the column of user IP address on the user policy storage table 15 be the destination address of the IP packet (step S40208).
Then, the content server α searches the user policy storage table for the ordering number α1, and deletes the policy corresponding to the ordering number α1 as shown in
If the content server α determines in step S40207 that the IP packet does not include such a message from the middleman server β, the content server α operates in accordance with the received IP packet (step S40210).
[Fifth Embodiment]
In the fifth embodiment, a user terminal (user) transmits to a content server (content provider) a request for a content in receiving the content from the content server via the Internet, and the content server, receiving the request from the user terminal, causes routers between the user terminal and the content server to reserve a band value recorded in advance in the user terminal by using an RSVP message with an ID issued by a middleman server.
(1) System Configuration
A description will be given of the fifth embodiment with reference to
As shown in
The ISP-a includes a bill collection server Ca and a router Ra. The ISP-b includes a bill collection server Cb and a router Rb. The ISP-c includes a bill collection server Cc and routers Rc and Rd. The bill collection servers Ca through Cc are equal to the above-described bill collection server 80, and the routers Ra through Rd are equal to the above-described routers 40.
The router Ra includes ports P1 through P4, the router Rb includes ports P5 through P9, the router Rc includes ports P10 through P13, and the router Rd includes ports P14 through P17.
The content servers α and γ include their respective payment ID storage tables 18 shown in
The middleman server β includes the payment ID management table 26 shown in
Each of the bill collection servers Ca through Cc includes the billing address determination table 81 shown in
Further, each of the routers Ra through Rd includes the payment ID determination table 41 shown in
The IP addresses of the above-described components of the network are shown in
(2) Precondition
In the network structure of
First, the content server α distributes a content A to the DTE-b at a band value of “64 Kbps” for a reserved period of 10:00 to 12:00 on 2001/9/1. Further, the content server γ distributes a content B to the DTE-c at a band value of “64 Kbps” for a reserved period of 9:00 to 12:00 on 2001/9/1.
The content servers α and γ prestores the IP address of the middleman server β under their respective contracts with the middleman β.
The content servers α and γ comply with the RSVP protocol.
Here, a description will be given of the tables set in the content servers α and γ, the middleman server β, and the bill collection servers Ca through Cc and the routers Ra through Rd of the ISP-a through ISP-c.
Thereafter, a description will be given of a connection band (a band used for the connection of the DTE-a to the ISP-a) set in the DTE-a and the setting of the object part of an RSVP message according to the present invention.
(A) The content servers α and γ include their respective payment ID storage tables 18 for storing payment IDs issued in advance to the content servers α and γ.
Here, the content servers α and γ store their respective payment IDs β1 and β2 issued by the middleman β.
(B) The middleman server β, as previously described, includes the payment ID management table 26 and the ISP billing particulars table 27. The payment ID management table 26 is used for managing the IP addresses of content servers used for billing by correlating the IP addresses with their respective payment IDs. The ISP billing particulars table 27 is used for collecting billing particulars transmitted from ISPs and charging the content servers.
(C) Each of the bill collection servers Ca through Cc of the ISP-a through ISP-c includes the billing address determination table 81 and the billing particulars table 82, and stores a list of charges.
The billing address determination table 81, as shown in
The billing particulars table 82, as shown in
(D) Each of the routers Ra through Rd includes the payment ID determination table 41 and the band usage particulars table 42. All the routers Ra through Rd comply with the RSVP protocol.
The payment ID determination table 41 is used for judging an RSVP message in advance to prevent a non-subscriber from receiving a service from a content provider, and is provided in advance in each subordinate router.
Here, as shown in
The band usage particulars table 42 is used for recording RSVP usage particulars in each router.
(E) Connection band set in the user (DTE-a)
A connection band is preset in a terminal. Here, the DTE-a complies with the RSVP protocol.
(F) Setting of the object part of an RSVP message according to the present invention
A payment ID identifier is preset in the Class-Num part of the object part of an RSVP message and a payment ID issued by the middleman β is set in the object part of the RSVP message so that a router receiving the RSVP message can reserve or release a resource.
(3) System Operation
A description will be given, with reference to
In step S51 of
The condition requested by the DTE-a is as follows:
Content name: Content A
Thereafter, the DTE-a waits to receive the requested content A from the content server α (step S50103).
In step S52 of
Since the DTE-a requests the content A, the content server α transmits an IP packet including the content A to the DTE-a with the transmitter IP address being set as the destination IP address of the IP packet (step S50205).
Next, as shown in
In step S53 of
First, the router Rc searches the payment ID determination table 41 for data corresponding to the extracted payment ID β1 (step S50606) as shown in
If it is determined in step S50607 that the payment ID β1 is official, the router Rc proceeds to determine whether a corresponding session exists (step S50608).
If the existence of the corresponding session is confirmed in step S50608, the router Rc records the previously extracted items (content destination IP address, content destination port number, and payment ID object) in the columns of destination IP address, destination port number, and payment ID on the band usage particulars table 42 (step S50609).
Here, the router Rc transmits to the DTE-a the Path message including the previously extracted items (session objects: content destination IP address and content destination port number, and payment ID object) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol (step S50610).
If it is determined in the negative in either step S50607 or S50608, the router Rc transmits to the content server α a Path Error message including the previously extracted items (session objects: content destination IP address and content destination port number, and payment ID object) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol (step S50611). When it is determined that the content server α has received the Path Error message from the router Rc (steps S50208 and S50209 of
In step S54 of
In step S55 of
Thereafter, first, in order to transmit an Resv message for causing the routers Ra through Rc through which the Path message has passed to reserve resources, the DTE-a extracts therefrom a prerecorded band value of 64 Kbps (step S50108). Then, with the previously extracted transmitter IP address being set as a destination IP address, the DTE-a transmits to the content server α the Resv message including an item (flow spec object: band value to be reserved (requested band)) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol in addition to the above-described items (session objects: content destination IP address and content destination port number, and payment ID object).
In step S56 of
Then, the router Ra searches the payment ID determination table 41 for data corresponding to the extracted payment ID β1 (step S50615) as shown in
If it is determined in step S50616 that the payment ID β1 is official, the router Ra proceeds to determine whether the requested band corresponds to the content destination port number (step S50617).
If it is determined in the affirmative in step S50617, the router Ra reserves the requested band that is the flow spec object of the Resv message with respect to the corresponding session (step S50618).
Then, since both of the above-described conditions of steps S50616 and S50617 are satisfied at the same time, the router Ra determines that the reservation of the requested band starts. The router Ra searches the columns of destination IP address and destination port number on the band usage particulars table 42 for data corresponding to the previously extracted session objects (content destination IP address and content destination port number) (step S50619). When the router Ra confirms the existence of the corresponding data, the router Ra records the date and time of the confirmation (10:00 a.m. on 2001/9/1) in the column of usage start date and time on the band usage particulars table 42 so that the date and time is correlated with the session objects. Further, the router Ra figures out the requested band from the extracted flow spec object in accordance with the RSVP protocol, and records the requested band in the column of reserved (requested) band on the band usage particulars table 42 in the same way as in recording the date and time of the confirmation (step S50620).
The router Ra transmits to the content server α the Resv message including the above-described items (session objects: content destination IP address and content destination port number, flow spec object: requested band, and payment ID object) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol with the previously extracted transmitter IP address of the Path message being set as the destination address of the Resv message (step S50621).
If it is determined in the negative in either step S50616 or S50617, the router Ra transmits to the DTE-a an Resv Error message including the above-described items (session objects: content destination IP address, content destination port number, flow spec object: requested band, and payment ID object) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol (step S50622).
When it is determined that the DTE-a has received the Resv Error message from the router Ra (steps S50112 and S50113 of
In step S57 of
In step S58 of
In step S59 of
In step S60 of
First, the router Ra searches the payment ID determination table 41 for data corresponding to the extracted payment ID β1 (step S50626) as shown in
If it is determined in step S50627 that the payment ID β1 is official, the router Ra proceeds to determine whether the resource reserved for the corresponding session is released (step S50628).
If the release of the reserved resource is confirmed in step S50628, this means that both of the above-described conditions of steps S50627 and S50628 are satisfied at the same time. Therefore, the router Ra determines that the reservation of the requested band ends. The router Ra searches the columns of destination IP address and destination port number on the band usage particulars table 42 for data corresponding to the previously extracted session objects (content destination IP address and content destination port number) (step S50629). When the router Ra confirms the existence of the corresponding data, the router Ra records the date and time of the confirmation (12:00 a.m. on 2001/9/1) in the column of usage end date and time on the band usage particulars table 42 so that the date and time is correlated with the session objects (step S50630).
Here, the router Ra transmits to the content server α the Resv Tear message including the previously extracted items (session objects: content destination IP address and content destination port number, and payment ID object) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol (step S50631).
If it is determined in the negative in either step S50627 or S50628, the router Ra transmits to the DTE-a a Resv Error message including the previously extracted items (session objects: content destination IP address and content destination port number, and payment ID object) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol (step S50632).
In step S61 of
In step S62 of
Next, the content server α transmits to the DTE-a a Path Tear message including the previously extracted items (session objects: content destination IP address and content destination port number, and payment ID object) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol (step S50216).
Here, if it is determined in step S50213 that the data received by the content server α is no the Resv Tear message from the router Rc, that is, if it is determined that the data received by the content server α in step S50203 is none of the content request from the DTE-a and the Path Error message, the Resv message, and the Resv Tear message from the router Rc, the content server α operates in accordance with the received data (packet) (step S50217).
In step S63 of
First, the router Rc searches the payment ID determination table 41 for data corresponding to the extracted payment ID β1 (step S50636) as shown in
If it is determined in step S50637 that the payment ID β1 is official, the router Rc transmits to the DTE-a the Path Tear message including the previously extracted items (session objects: content destination IP address and content destination port number, and payment ID object) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol (step S50638).
If it is determined in the negative in step S50637, the router Rc transmits to the content server α a Path Error message including the previously extracted items (session objects: content destination IP address and content destination port number, and payment ID object) set in compliance with the RSVP protocol (step S50639).
In step S64 of
In step S65 of
Each of the ISP-a through ISP-c collects a log of the band usage particulars table 42 from its subordinate router to charge the middleman β periodically. Here, a description will be given through an operation of the ISP-c.
In step S66 of
In step S67 of
If it is determined in step S50640 that the data received by the router Rc is not a log request from the bill collection server Cc, that is, if it is determined that the data received by the router Rc in step S50602 is none of the Path message and the Path Tear message from the content server α, and the Resv message and the Resv Tear message from the DTE-a, the router Rc operates in accordance with the received data (packet) (step S50643).
In step S68 of
Further, with respect to each band used for distributing the corresponding content, the bill collection server Cc calculates a period of usage time from the usage start date and time and the usage end date and time of the band, and based on the calculated usage time, computes an amount billed by referring to the list of charges (step S50505). Then, the bill collection server Cc records the computed amount billed in the column of amount billed on the billing particulars table 82 (step S50506).
Next, the billing collection server Cc searches the column of payment ID on the billing address determination table 81 for data corresponding to the payment ID β1 as shown in
Then, the bill collection server Cc transmits to the middleman server β an IP packet including the contents of the billing particulars table 82 (billing particulars) with the IP address of the middleman server β being set as the destination address of the IP packet (step S50508).
In step S69 of
In step S70 of
Then, the middleman server β extracts the billing items (amount billed, payment ID, destination IP address, destination port number, reserved band, usage start date and time, and usage end date and time) from the ISP billing particulars table.
Thereafter, first, the middleman server β searches the column of payment ID on the payment ID management table 26 for data corresponding to the payment IDs β1 and β2 as shown in
Then, the middleman server β transmits to the content servers α and γ IP packets each including the billing particulars from the ISP-a through ISP-c set separately from one another with the extracted content server IP addresses being set as the destination IP addresses of the IP packets (step S50405).
Thereafter, the middleman server β pays the amount billed transmitted from the bill collection servers Ca through Cc to their respective ISPs, that is, the ISP-a through ISP-c (step S50406).
In step S71 of
Thereafter, the content servers α and γ pay the middleman server their respective amounts billed (step S50303).
According to the present invention, the best transmission band is automatically transmitted to a band allocation mechanism without a receiving terminal (receiver) explicitly indicating a required transmission band. Further, a QoS control over a plurality of ISPs can be realized with a load on the receiving terminal being minimized by adding a function of a content provider (transmitter) and a function of a network, whether the band allocation mechanism itself is transmitter-triggered or receiver-triggered.
Furthermore, it is possible to charge the transmitter or receiver for band allocations by the ISPs all at one time.
As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be produced.
A receiver of contents is free of specifying network parameters in requesting each content.
A receiving terminal can receive a band allocation without having a function complying with a band allocation mechanism.
A transmitter or receiver can pay for a plurality of band allocations at one time.
An ISP can accept a band allocation request after confirming an assurance of payment for a band allocation when the ISP receives the band allocation request.
The present invention is not limited to the specifically disclosed embodiments, but variations and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The present application is based on Japanese priority application No. 2001-149473 filed on May 18, 2001, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Claims
1. A method of reserving a transmission band of a transmission line for transmitting data via a plurality of Internet service providers on the Internet between a content server and a terminal, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) the content server requesting an intermediary server to reserve the transmission band by transmitting a user policy that includes an ordering number, a requested band, a reservation start date and time, and a reservation end date and time; and
- (b) the intermediary server reserving the transmission band for the content server and the terminal,
- wherein the reserving step further includes the steps of: receiving the user policy; storing the received user policy; searching for IP addresses of policy servers of the plurality of Internet service providers; transmitting the user policy to each policy server corresponding to each of the plurality of Internet service providers, said each policy server storing the transmitted user policy; receiving a band reservation result from each corresponding policy server; determining whether the requested band reservation is confirmed by the band reservation results; and transmitting the band reservation results to the content server, and
- wherein charging data, for charging one or more of a transmitter and a receiver of said data for transmission quality assurance per said plurality of Internet service providers, is constructed at one or more of said content server, said intermediary server, and said policy server.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content server transmits IP addresses of the content server and the terminal, IP addresses of each of a plurality of routers on the transmission line between the content server and the terminal, and the requested band to the intermediary server.
3. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the intermediary server identifies a band reservation setting server for each of the plurality of routers from the IP addresses thereof, each of the band reservation setting servers causing its respective router to reserve the transmission band.
4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the intermediary server identifies the band reservation setting servers by referring to a table on which IP addresses of each of the band reservations servers is recorded so as to be correlated with an IP address of its respective router.
5. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein each of the band reservation setting servers causes its respective router to reserve the transmission band in accordance with band setting requests transmitted from the intermediary server.
6. The method as claimed in claim 3, further comprising the steps of:
- (c) the content server requesting the intermediary server to release the reserved transmission band; and
- (d) the intermediary server releasing the reserved transmission band.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the intermediary server instructs the band reservation setting servers to release the reserved transmission band.
8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein each of the band reservation setting servers causes its respective router to release the reserved transmission band in accordance with a band release request transmitted from the intermediary server.
9. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the intermediary server, instead of the requested band, utilizes an ID of one of the Internet service providers to which the terminal is connected and IP addresses of communication devices connected to the one of the Internet service providers, the ID and the IP addresses being transmitted from the one of the Internet service providers.
10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the requested band is a transmission rate at which the terminal is connected to the one of the Internet service providers.
11. The method as claimed in claim 10, wherein the intermediary server transmits an inquiry about the transmission rate to the one of the Internet service providers.
12. The method as claimed in claim 11, wherein the one of the Internet service providers responds to the inquiry from the intermediary server.
13. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the content server transmits IP addresses of the content server and the terminal, and IP addresses of routers on the transmission line to the intermediary server.
14. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the requested band is a transmission rate at which the terminal is connected to a corresponding one of the Internet service providers.
15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the intermediary server transmits an inquiry about the transmission rate to the corresponding one of the Internet service providers.
16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the corresponding one of the Internet service providers responds to the inquiry from the intermediary server.
17. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
- the terminal is connected to one of the Internet service providers which one includes a copy server having a copy of a content distributed by the content server; and
- the content server, based on a request of the terminal for the content, informs the copy server that the content is distributed from the copy server to the terminal by reserving a transmission band between the content server and the terminal.
18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the copy server transmits an IP address thereof, an IP address of the terminal, the requested band, and IP addresses of all routers between the copy server and the terminal to the intermediary server.
19. A device for reserving a transmission band of a transmission line for transmitting data via a plurality of Internet service providers (ISPs) on the Internet between a content server and a terminal,
- wherein the transmission band is reserved at a request of the content server to reserve the transmission band by transmitting a user policy that includes an ordering number, a requested band, a reservation start date and time, and a reservation end date and time,
- wherein the device is operable to perform the steps of: storing IP addresses of policy servers of the ISPs, storing a request of the content server to reserve the transmission band, including user policy; communicating the user policy over the Internet to each policy server corresponding to each of said plurality of ISPs to request reservation of the transmission band, said each policy server storing the user policy; and storing results of reservations of the transmission band, the results being returned from the each policy server in response to the reservation requested by the device, and
- wherein charging data, for charging one or more of a transmitter and a receiver of said data for transmission quality assurance per said plurality of ISPs, is constructed at one or more of said content server, said policy server, and said device.
20. A device for reserving a transmission band of a transmission line for transmitting data via a plurality of Internet service providers (ISPs) on the Internet between a content server and a terminal, the device comprising:
- a first part storing IP addresses of policy servers of the Internet service providers;
- a second part storing a request of the content server to reserve the transmission band, the request including a user policy that includes an ordering number, a requested band, a reservation start date and time, and a reservation end date and time;
- a third part for communicating the user policy over the Internet to each policy server corresponding to each of said plurality of ISPs to request reservation of the transmission band, said each policy server storing the user policy; and
- a fourth part storing results of reservations of the transmission band, the results being returned by the each policy server in response to the reservation request made via the third part,
- wherein the device, upon receiving the request of the content server, refers to the first and second parts to instruct the each policy server via the third part to reserve the transmission band, recording the results of the reservations returned from the each policy server in the fourth part, and informing the content server whether a reservation of the transmission band is confirmed by analyzing the results stored in the fourth part, and
- wherein charging data, for charging one or more of a transmitter and a receiver of said data for transmission quality assurance per said plurality of ISPs, is constructed at one or more of said content server, said policy server, and said device.
6101549 | August 8, 2000 | Baugher et al. |
6118785 | September 12, 2000 | Araujo et al. |
6278712 | August 21, 2001 | Takihiro et al. |
6336129 | January 1, 2002 | Ise et al. |
6341127 | January 22, 2002 | Katsube et al. |
6519254 | February 11, 2003 | Chuah et al. |
6577628 | June 10, 2003 | Hejza |
6708209 | March 16, 2004 | Ebata et al. |
6721272 | April 13, 2004 | Parnafes et al. |
6765872 | July 20, 2004 | Tazaki |
6771661 | August 3, 2004 | Chawla et al. |
6779031 | August 17, 2004 | Picher-Dempsey |
6801944 | October 5, 2004 | Motoyama et al. |
20020099848 | July 25, 2002 | Lee |
20040202158 | October 14, 2004 | Takeno et al. |
10-257050 | September 1998 | JP |
11055252 | February 1999 | JP |
11275141 | October 1999 | JP |
2000-312226 | November 2000 | JP |
00/69129 | November 2000 | WO |
- Japanese Office Action dated Dec. 4, 2007, from the corresponding Japanese Application.
Type: Grant
Filed: Oct 29, 2001
Date of Patent: May 18, 2010
Patent Publication Number: 20020174228
Assignee: Fujitsu Limited (Kawasaki)
Inventors: Hideyasu Kanemaki (Kawasaki), Takeshi Okamoto (Kawasaki), Ikuo Taoka (Kawasaki), Yoko Sasaki (Kawasaki)
Primary Examiner: John Follansbee
Assistant Examiner: Nghi V Tran
Attorney: Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
Application Number: 10/005,988
International Classification: G06F 15/16 (20060101);